e backed up against the slope of
the mountain. The buffaloes we had first seen above the grove: they must
now have sought cover among either the trees or the lower jungle, and
it seemed reasonable that the beasts would emerge on the grass and bush
area late in the afternoon. Therefore Memba Sasa and I selected good
comfortable sheltered spots, leaned our backs against rocks, and
resigned ourselves to long patience. It was now about nine o'clock in
the morning, and we could not expect our game to come out before half
past three at earliest. We could not, however, go away to come back
later because of the chance that the buffaloes might take it into their
heads to go travelling. I had been fooled that way before. For this
reason, also, it was necessary, every five minutes or so, to examine
carefully all our boundaries; lest the beasts might be slipping away
through the cover.

The hours passed very slowly. We made lunch last as long as possible. I
had in my pocket a small edition of Hawthorne's "The House of the Seven
Gables," which I read, pausing every few minutes to raise my glasses
for the periodical examination of the country. The mental focussing
back from the pale gray half light of Hawthorne's New England to the
actuality of wild Africa was a most extraordinary experience.

Through the heat of the day the world lay absolutely silent. At about
half-past three, however, we heard rumblings and low bellows from the
trees a half mile away. I repocketed Hawthorne, and aroused myself to
continuous alertness.

The ensuing two hours passed more slowly than all the rest of the
day, for we were constantly on the lookout. The buffaloes delayed most
singularly, seemingly reluctant to leave their deep cover. The sun
dropped behind the mountains, and their shadow commenced to climb the
opposite range. I glanced at my watch. We had not more than a half hour
of daylight left.

Fifteen minutes of this passed. It began to look as though our long
and monotonous wait had been quite in vain; when, right below us, and
perhaps five hundred yards away, four great black bodies fed leisurely
from the bushes. Three of them we could see plainly. Two were bulls
of fair size. The fourth, half concealed in the brush, was by far the
biggest of the lot.

In order to reach them we would have to slip down the face of the hill
on which we sat, cross the stream jungle at the bottom, climb out the
other side, and make our stalk to within range. W